A Quilting Romp

After all the intense work on my huge whole cloth quilt, I needed to quilt something that I didn’t have to think about too hard-something that was just a romp. I wanted to be able to quilt just for the simple joy of it.

For once, I actually kept it simple. I grabbed one of my vintage hankies, waddled to my considerable stash of Radiance fabric and started making some simple design decisions.

I used a single layer of wool batting, Radiance (45% silk/55% cotton) for both the top and back and layered my vintage hanky on top.

All those curves look great with a grid next to them so I did have to mark the grid. Marking on the hanky was easy but I could not find the right tool to mark the dark Radiance.

I tried every color of Frixion pen, several white pencils, a hera marker and a Chaco marker. Everything except the Chaco either disappeared, skipped, or left marks that were barely visible. I don’t think I’ve used a Chaco in a non-garment application in a decade!

Even at that, the marks rubbed off easily and some of my lines were too wobbly to follow. I will surely have to redo the binding and go back and fix some of the not-so-straight lines.

It was my intent to put curves on both sides of the spine in the center of the border. But once I got the inner border quilted with curves, the outer border demanded something linear. I am pleased with the mix.

The metallic thread is “Sparkle” by YLI. I did not use a topstitch needle with this metallic-wrapped silk thread. I used a jersey needle instead. Diane Gaudynski has worked a lot with this thread and that is the needle she found success with. It worked very well and gave no trouble.

In all the other areas of the quilt I used 100 weight silk thread in both the bobbin and top. The grid on the hanky was much too plain when I finished quilting it and it was demanding beads-I acquiesced! I am a fan of metallic seed beads on a grid and I think it balances nicely with the metallic thread in the border.

It doesn’t have a name yet but I think it will be my donation piece to the auction at Houston this year-after I fix those wobbly lines in the border! BUT, I reserve the right to change my mind. I won’t need to donate until late October, so I may create something else by then.

But this was a good, fun romp of a piece and I enjoyed both the process and the outcome.

Thank you Kelly! I get Radiance at my local shops but you can just google it on line if it’s not available locally. It’s made by Robert Kaufman and it makes your quilting look gorgeous! It’s a simple concept-layer up your hankies and have at it!Cindy Needham uses all kinds of linens also to do this.